James Palmer
Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
In office
8 May 2017 – 9 May 2021
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byNik Johnson
Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council
In office
May 2013 – May 2017
DeputyCharles Roberts
Preceded byPeter Moakes
Cambridgeshire County Councillor
for Soham and Fordham Villages
In office
4 June 2009 – 4 May 2017
Preceded byJudith Broadway
Succeeded bySeat abolished
Councillor for East Cambridgeshire District Council
In office
3 May 2007 – 4 May 2017
WardSoham North
Personal details
Born
James Palmer

(1969-10-02) 2 October 1969
Soham, Cambridgeshire
Political partyConservative
Children2

James Palmer (born 2 October 1969) is a former politician who was the first Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough between 2017 and 2021. As a councillor, he was previously leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council between May 2013 and May 2017. He was also a county councillor for the Soham and Fordham Villages electoral division of Cambridgeshire County Council between 2009 and 2017. Palmer was elected as the Conservative candidate on 4 May, 2017,[1] however lost the subsequent 6 May 2021 election to Labour Party candidate Nik Johnson and announced his retirement from politics.[2]

Political career

As a councillor

Standing for The Conservative Party, Palmer was elected as East Cambridgeshire District Councillor for the Soham North ward for the first time in 2007 and re-elected in 2011 and 2015.[3] He was elected as a Cambridgeshire County Councillor for the first time in 2009, in the Soham and Fordham Villages electoral division. He was re-elected in 2013. He was leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council from May 2013 until his election as Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, when the post became automatically vacant. He also vacated his county councillor role at the same time. As leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, he helped secure the funding for the Ely southern bypass to alleviate congestion in the city.[4] Under his leadership the council also developed plans for £13.5 million leisure centre and a cinema complex for Ely.[5] The new Hive Leisure Centre was opened in May 2018.

Mayoral election

Then leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council and a Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Palmer announced in December 2016 he would be campaigning to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor and was selected on 21 January 2017 following a hustings event.[6]

In the run-up to the election, Palmer told Cambridge News, that he would invest in transport infrastructure to help business growth spread across the whole of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and make job opportunities accessible to more people.[7]

Palmer was elected Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on 4 May 2017 with 88,826 votes (76,064 first preferences and 12,762 transfers under the supplementary vote system in the second round), and 56.9% of the final vote.[8] Upon being elected he said: "I am immensely proud to be the first mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and I will do everything I can to make sure everybody is included in the future of this county."[9]

As Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Policies

As mayor, Palmer's objectives were to construct the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro, including underground tunnelling in Cambridge, upgrade the A47 in Cambridgeshire to dual carriageway, deliver Peterborough's first university with degree-awarding powers and build more affordable homes, including through community land trusts.[10] Palmer has also campaigned to reform the region's education system and for further devolution from Westminster.[11]

Transport

Palmer aimed to progress with work on delivering a metro system in Cambridgeshire, with underground tunnelling in Cambridge city centre.[12] Due to the significant estimated cost, Palmer investigated financing it through land value cap and tax increment financing (TIF) and investment from the private sector.[13]

In March 2018 Palmer announced he would be supporting the A47 Alliance campaign for full dualling of the trunk road from the A1 near Peterborough to Lowestoft in Suffolk.[14] He also supported the dualling of the A10 from Cambridge to Ely, and the eventual extension of the M11 north to the A47 to better connect the north and south of Cambridgeshire.[15][16] In rail policy, he aimed to establish a rail link for Wisbech, build a station at Soham and deliver an interim station at Cambridge South by 2021 instead of the proposed 2025-27 timescales for the full station as proposed by East West Rail.[17][18]

In 2020 Palmer announced that the Combined Authority had abandoned plans to build a new cycle and footbridge in St Neots,[19] where the Combined Authority was contributing £3.1 million towards the original £4.6 million cost of the scheme. Costs had increased to £7.4 million and the Combined Authority Board in June 2018 concluded it did 'not offer value for money'. £800,000 of the funding had been spent on consultants before the decision was made.[20][21][22]

Housing

Palmer developed the £100K home scheme which builds one bedroom houses and sells them for below market rate.[23] By March 2021, eight homes had been delivered in Fordham and there were plans to build three more in Cambridge.[24]

In March 2021, it was announced that central government would withdraw £45 million of funding that was earmarked to fund affordable housing in Cambridgeshire due to "insufficient progress" and poor value for money. The scheme was supposed to deliver 2000 new homes by 2022.[25]

Further devolution

In November 2017, Palmer joined other regional mayors to call for the UK government to allow further devolution to mayoral combined authorities. That included public services like skills, training and apprenticeships, as well as fiscal devolution to gain some control over taxes and revenues generated within combined authority areas.[26] Palmer established an independent panel led by the chief executive of Adnams to investigate public sector reform in Cambridgeshire.[27]

Administration

In September 2017, Palmer promoted a former colleague councillor at East Cambridgeshire District Council, Tom Hunt (who in 2019 became MP for Ipswich), to the combined authority as his chief of staff.[28] In July 2020, Conservative Minister of State Simon Clarke wrote to Palmer criticising the appointment, stating "the legal advice behind the appointment of Tom Hunt contained significant omissions".[29]

After concerns surfaced about the way the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) was being run, resulting in the Government holding back funding, Palmer wrote an open letter in September 2017 saying the organisation was no longer able to fulfil its purpose of supporting the area's business community.[30] Palmer would later support its merging to with the Combined Authority, where it was proposed to operate under an independent Business Board.[31][32] The Business Board, he said, "will involve the public and private sectors working together closely will provide a powerful business voice for Greater Cambridgeshire and Peterborough."[33]

In September 2018, Palmer was accused of concealing the truth about whether the chief executive of CAPCA had resigned or been fired. Palmer insisted that he had resigned, but council leaders said that they thought "the evidence points to it being a dismissal", a decision which Palmer was not allowed to make unilaterally under CAPCA's constitution.[34] It was later revealed that the chief executive received 94,500 in severance pay despite serving no notice period.[35] Palmer approved the payment without consulting other members of the board and when challenged about it suggested the public were not "even slightly interested" in the circumstances surrounding it.[36]

When running for Mayor, Palmer estimated the running costs of CAPCA would be £850,000 but by November 2018, costs had spiralled to £7.6 million in 2018, including £5.6 million on staff salaries. Palmer admitted he underestimated the cost of running the new combined authority and said his original predictions "were never going to be realistic".[37] After the increase in costs was announced, Palmer sacked the chief finance officer of CAPCA.[38]

In July 2020, Conservative Minister of State Simon Clarke wrote to the Mayor criticising him on a number of issues "…which suggest that the delivery capacity of the combined authority requires improvement." He was particularly concerned about "…disagreements between CAPCA and the Greater Cambridge Partnership…" which he feared might hinder delivery of projects. He also stated in the letter that "…a number of historical problems had been identified...", including the appointment of Tom Hunt as his chief of staff. Palmer blamed civil servants for the criticism.[39]

Second mayoral election

Palmer stood as the incumbent in the 2021 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral election, held on 6 May of that year. Standing against Labour's Nik Johnson and Liberal Democrat Aidan Van de Weyer, he secured 40.5% of the first-round votes.[40] With no candidate reaching the 50% threshold a second round was held between Palmer and Johnson. A large majority of supplementary votes went to the Labour candidate and the final count saw Palmer receive 48.7% of the total, with Johnson winning on 51.3%.[40][41]

Following his defeat, Palmer announced that he would be retiring from politics.[42]

Personal life

His cousin is the Burnley FC and England international goalkeeper Nick Pope.[43]

References

  1. ↑ "James Palmer is Cambridgeshire's first mayor". Cambridge News. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  2. ↑ Leishman, Fiona; Hatton, Benjamin (8 May 2021). "Labour's Nik Johnson elected Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Jolley, Ben. "Councillor James Palmer, Leader of East Cambs District Council, announces bid to become mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". Ely Standard. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  4. ↑ "Work starts in earnest on new congestion busting Ely bypass". Cambridgeshire County Council. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Comber, Ben. "Will Cambridgeshire Mayor candidate James Palmer win your vote?". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Pilgrim, Tom (23 January 2017). "Conservative candidate for Cambridgeshire mayor chosen". cambridgenews. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Pilgrim, Tom (30 April 2017). "Cambridgeshire mayor candidates explain why you should vote for them". cambridgenews. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough". BBC News. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  9. ↑ Maguire, Samar (5 May 2017). "James Palmer is Cambridgeshire's first mayor". cambridgenews. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  10. ↑ Elworthy, John. "Mayor Palmer hits the ground running with 'first 100 days' strategy to boost Cambridgeshire and Peterborough". Cambs Times. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  11. ↑ "'We need major reforms to drive county forward' says Cambridgeshire mayor James Palmer". Cambridge Independent. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  12. ↑ "Step forward for Cambridge metro plan". BBC News. 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "Cambridge mayor breaks down funding plan for £1.7bn metro". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  14. ↑ bishop, chris. "Mayor backs dualling". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  15. ↑ Pilgrim, Tom (8 January 2018). "'Danger road' A10 to be dualled in half-a-billion pound scheme". cambridgenews. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  16. ↑ Thomas, Josh (1 June 2018). "The M11 could be extended from Cambridge to Peterborough". cambridgenews. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  17. ↑ Gardner, Gemma. "Cambridge South station scheduled to arrive in 2025". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  18. ↑ Butler, Clare. "Mayor James Palmer wants to reopen stations in Soham and Wisbech as he says it's time to look beyond Network Rail to deliver 'essential infrastructure'". Wisbech Standard. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  19. ↑ "St Neots £4.1m Masterplan Funding | the CPCA Combined Authority". 15 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "St Neots foot and cycle bridge plans scrapped". BBC News. 11 March 2020.
  21. ↑ "£800,000 spent on defunct bridge project for St Neots". 11 March 2020.
  22. ↑ "Plans for controversial £3million bridge in St Neots to be scrapped". 28 February 2020.
  23. ↑ Hepburn, Louise (8 December 2020). "£100,000 home buyers unlikely to move in by Christmas". Wisbech Standard. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  24. ↑ Peel, Adrian (22 March 2021). "New £100,000 homes for Cambridge". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "Cambridgeshire's affordable homes scheme set to lose millions". BBC News. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  26. ↑ Mansfield, Daniel. "Regional mayors make call for more powers to be devolved". Hunts Post. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  27. ↑ Gardner, Gemma (15 April 2018). "Mayor brewing a plan to reform the public sector across Cambridgeshire". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  28. ↑ Elworthy, John (20 September 2017). "Former East Cambs councillor Tom Hunt bags himself a pay rise - and a bigger role - as chief of staff to Mayor James Palmer". Cambs Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  29. ↑ Elworthy, John (21 July 2020). "Government rebuke for Mayor James Palmer". Ely Standard. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  30. ↑ "Cambridgeshire suffering 'reputation damage' says mayor as government withholds £37m growth funding for enterprise partnership". Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  31. ↑ Elworthy, John. "Mayor James Palmer effectively declares a vote of no confidence in local enterprise partnership (LEP)". Ely Standard. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  32. ↑ Bristow, Tom. "Under-fire LEP will be scrapped and replaced by new business board". Wisbech Standard. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  33. ↑ "Plans for a new 'business board' unveiled". cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  34. ↑ Mirsky, Hannah (19 September 2018). "Mayor accused of concealing "truth" about chief executive's exit". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  35. ↑ Thomas, Josh (24 October 2018). "Whopping £94.5k payout for Cambridgeshire public servant who quit job". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  36. ↑ "Cambridgeshire mayor James Palmer slammed over £94k payoff". BBC News. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  37. ↑ Thomas, Josh (26 November 2018). "Fears Combined Authority costs are 'spiralling out of control'". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  38. ↑ "Cambridgeshire Mayor dismisses chief finance officer". BBC News. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  39. ↑ Elworthy, John (21 July 2020). "Government rebuke for Mayor James Palmer". Ely Standard. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  40. 1 2 archimedes (4 May 2021). "Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mayor Election 2021 Live Results". East Cambridgeshire District Council. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  41. ↑ "Election 2021: Labour wins Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor election". BBC News. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  42. ↑ "Former Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayor James Palmer quits politics after election defeat". Cambridge Independent. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  43. ↑ Jolley, Ben. "Wicken-born goalkeeper Nick Pope joins England football team". Ely Standard. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
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